"Honored customer, these are premium hawthorn spirit fruits, dipped in a glaze of hundred-flower honey. They replenish vitality and boost qi. Want a skewer? Only three Mithril Coins."
Hui Miqiu turned around and, upon seeing Qin He looking at him, immediately piled on a smile and began his sales pitch.
After several years apart, he had visibly aged. His clothes were faded and speckled white, and life seemed to have been somewhat difficult for him.
"Hui..."
"Hey, Candied Hawthorn Skewers vendor! Bring us a hundred skewers."
Just as Qin He opened his mouth, a squad of Blood Crow warriors flew through the air nearby, drawing cries of alarm from the surrounding demons as they hurriedly moved aside.
The speaker was an exceptionally tall warrior at the head of the group. Muscles bulged all over his body, with only a few areas covered in blood armor. He was powerful and agile, while the wings on his back were wrapped in swirling black mist that carried an inexplicable aura of eeriness and ferocity.
Qin He glanced sideways. This was clearly a far more elite force than the patrol squad from earlier.
There were eight of them in all, and every one was in the Wheel Sea Realm. The blood-armored warrior leading them was, without question, in the Dao Palace Realm.
Their weapons, blood armor, aura, and the privilege of flying through the air all proclaimed their higher status. Some of the warriors even had traces of still-wet blood staining their armor.
Even their transformations were more humanoid now. Only their mouths, noses, and eyes retained some of the Blood Crow's features.
The blood-armored leader descended from the air and landed, shouting at Hui Miqiu.
When Hui Miqiu turned and saw him, his entire body trembled, and his face went pale.
"G-greetings, Lord